[January 31, 2014]
(Reuters) — Amgen Inc said
its experimental drug from a promising new class of injectable
medicines succeeded in treating patients with genetically high
cholesterol levels, marking the fifth successful clinical study of
the drug.

Evolocumab met the main goal of a late-stage trial
titled RUTHERFORD-2 by lowering "bad" LDL cholesterol levels when
tested against a placebo on 329 patients.

Amgen, the world's biggest biotechnology company, is testing
evolocumab widely on a variety of subpopulations.

The RUTHERFORD-2 study included patients with familial
hypercholesterolemia, an inherited condition that causes high levels
of "bad" LDL cholesterol starting at birth.

Specifically, patients in the study had heterozygous familial
hypercholesterolemia, which is one of the most common genetic
disorders affecting about one out of every 300 to 500 people
worldwide, according to Amgen.

The company on Tuesday reported positive results from a fourth
late-stage study of evolocumab, for which it plans to begin seeking
approvals this year.

The drug is intended for people
who cannot tolerate widely used statins, or who are unable to get
their LDL levels low enough despite using high potency statins, such
as AstraZeneca's Crestor.